McDonald Scouts earn Service Award

May 2, 2012

Members of Girl Scout Troop 80344 from McDonald were presented the Gold Level President's Volunteer Service Award at an awards ceremony held last week at Roosevelt Elementary School.

''This is a perfect example of a group caring for their community,'' said McDonald Mayor Glenn Holmes.

Special guests for the ceremony included representative from the office of Ohio State Sen. Capri Cafaro, Jon Wike; Ohio State Rep. Sean O'Brien; McDonald Mayor Glenn Holmes; Carol Holmes; Roosevelt Elementary principal David Vecchione; and Pastor Carla Davies of the Woodland Park United Methodist Church.

Also honored for their volunteer work with the troop were Jo Marie Jones and Greg Ward. Troop 80344 leaders are Candace Ward, Lori Gillespie and Patricia Vilk-Worrell.

Awards to the scouts included the Gold Level Service Pin and a letter signed by President Barack Obama. Also presented the scouts was an official recognition certificate and a certificate stating the activities to each girl participated in to earn the award.

Last year, Girl Scout Troop 80344 served 1,293 hours of helping others, according to troop leaders. They have participated in 39 projects during 2011, including St. Jude's Recycled Card Program, Project Linus for the Akron Children's Hospital Beeghly Campus, Woodland Park United Methodist Church Replenishment Project, AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Pen Pal Program, Veterans Day Cards for the Cleveland Veterans Hospital, Reverse Trick-or-Treat and Holiday Project at the Woodland Park Retirement Apartments, Make It Don't Take It Card Project, national Emergency Responders Day cards for McDonald EMT, police and firefighters, and Angel Tree Packages.

The scouts also took up various product collections for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, Animal Welfare League, Angels for Animals, Goodwill, Woodland Park United Methodist Church, USO and Socks for Soldiers.

The scouts also will be working with the village on a project to begin this month for a garden near the senior citizens building, Holmes said. The garden was made possible through a $2,800 People's Garden Grant awarded by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, he said.